Qualcomm, Red Bull, Ratner, Fracking: Intellectual Property

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese regulators fined Qualcomm Inc. $975
million and set patent licensing rates for its mobile-phone chip
technology after finding the U.S. company guilty of antitrust
violations.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission issued a
decision that Qualcomm violated its anti-monopoly law, the San
Diego-based company said in a statement Monday. Qualcomm said it
won’t challenge the ruling.

The agreement ends an investigation that lasted more than a
year and hurt Qualcomm’s ability to collect licensing revenue in
China, the largest mobile-phone market, where some handset
makers have delayed royalty payments or paid less than they owe.

Qualcomm, whose chips run most of the world’s phones that
can access the Internet, gets the majority of its profit from
patent-licensing fees related to its ownership of technology
fundamental to cellular-phone systems.

The result of the investigation may also provide a guide on
how to proceed for non-Chinese companies facing regulatory
scrutiny in that nation. Microsoft Corp. and Symantec Corp. also
have been the target of Chinese government investigations,
fueling concern that the world’s second-largest economy is using
such inquiries to boost its native enterprises.

Qualcomm has collected more than $30 billion in royalties
in the past five years.

Last year, the company said the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission also is looking at its licensing division regarding
fair and reasonable commitments, while the European Commission
is examining rebates or financial incentives related to
Qualcomm’s baseband chip business.

For more patent news, click here.

Trademark

Red Bull Claims ‘Old Ox Brewery’ Registration Raises Red Flag

Red Bull GmbH, the Austrian energy-drink maker, filed
notice with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that it opposes
a registration for “Old Ox Brewery.”

In its Jan. 28 filing, Red Bull said the public is likely
to be confused should the Auburn, Virginia-based brewery be
allowed to register its name as a trademark. Consumers would
potentially assume falsely that an affiliation exists between
the two entities, Red Bull said.

Filmmaker Brett Ratner Sues Over Beverly Hills Whiskey Mark

Filmmaker Brett Ratner, who is planning to start producing
premium whiskey, sued a Kentucky distillery in a trademark
dispute.

Ratner, who said he will license his brand to London-based
Diageo Plc, plans to name his whiskey for his Hilhaven Lodge, a
home in Beverly Hills, California, previously owned by Ingrid
Bergman.

Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc. has filed objections to his
trademark applications, according to court papers, claiming the
public would be confused by the similarity of the names.

In a letter from counsel for Heaven Hill included with the
court filing, the Bardstown, Kentucky-based distillery claimed
to be the largest independent family-owned and operated
distilled spirits company in the U.S. The company produces high-end Bourbon selling for as much as $160 a bottle.

In a complaint filed Feb. 5 in federal court in Los
Angeles, Ratner is seeking a judicial declaration that his
proposed “Hilhaven Lodge” and “The Hilhaven” marks won’t
infringe. Additionally, he asked the court for attorney fees and
litigation costs.

The case is Ratner v. Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc., 2:15-cv-00849, U.S. District Court, Central District of California
(Los Angeles).

For more trademark news, click here.

Copyright

KickassTorrents Loses One Domain Name, Resurfaces With Another

KickassTorrents, operator of the kickass.so website, which
visitors can use to download content using the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, lost its domain name, TorrentFreak reported.

The site, which was registered in Somalia, is now listed as
banned, according to TorrentFreak, a website that reports on
online copyright issues.

TorrentFreak reported that Kickass has moved domains
several times in the past several years.

The team operating the site told TorrentFreak it has re-emerged, operating as Kickass.to, which yesterday was still
operating and offering such films as “The Theory of
Everything” and “Dumb and Dumber” for download.

For more copyright news, click here.

Trade Secrets/Industrial Espionage

Virginia County’s Supervisors Call for Fracking Disclosure

The governing body of an eastern Virginia county is
considering a resolution mandating disclosure of all the
chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process,
TriCities.com reported.

The Washington County Board of Supervisors seeks to have
all chemicals used in this process of oil and gas exploration
listed, “including those for which trade secret protection is
requested,” according to the news website.

Tricities.com reported that the Virginia Oil & Gas
Association has also called for the disclosure of fracking
chemicals.

Lawsuits

Marathon Patent Group Sues Apple in Germany Over ICloud Service

Marathon Patent Group Inc., a patent monetization company
based in Alexandria, Virginia, said in a statement that it sued
Apple Inc. for patent infringement in Germany.

In the suit, Marathon’s TLI Communications unit accuses
Cupertino, California-based Apple of infringing European patent
0 814 611 B1. The patent is related to Apple’s iCloud Internet
service, according to the statement.

According to U.S. federal case docketing information, so
far in 2015, only one patent-infringement suit has been filed by
a Marathon unit -- Selene Communication Technologies LLC, which
sued Trend Micro Inc. on Jan. 20.

Apple is one of the companies sued for patent infringement
by Marathon’s Vantage Point Technology between Oct. 3 and Dec.
23 in 2014. Microsoft Corp., Broadcom Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and
Marvell Semiconductor Inc. are among those defendants.